Questions of Conquest
While this article catalogues events that are neither from the ethnic group that went on to form the United States nor the geographical region which the United States would come to occupy, this essay is about the true precedent to European colonisation, and the is the conquest of the New World by the famous man, Francisco Pizarro. This essay describes his journey from a somewhat cynical light; as it is hard to show genocide in a glorious light thanks to today's secular and life-respecting society. It focuses specifically on the moment of truth, when King Atahualpa was killed by Spanish forces. The author claims that the death of the king collapsed the complex civil-service based society of the Inca in on its head. The people were confused, and hesitated to fight back, while the Spanish, with their perceived noble cause and their desire for the legendary cities of gold, fought feverishly.
The juxtaposition here is clear. The Inca, died off at the hands of the 100 Spanish men who came to the New World to seek glory and conversion, because of all the power given to them by European civilization. It is the tale of a how an entire society, complex and completely different from Spain's ideals, was toppled by the great forces of the world. This is the founding myth of America; this was the time when the powers of Europe began to seize the New World, and the symbolism was very clear. From that point on it was permitted to displace the natives, or force them to become Christian. They were different and therefore they were less than human; and that was how it was going to be. Well they might not have seen themselves as rebels, to the idea of America; a European Civilization in the New World, they were rebellious. And they were destroyed almost utterly; leaving only a pittance of their once-great population.
But, one does not have to look so far as Pizarro to see the destruction of the indigenous peoples of America. They can look no further than folk-hero Buffalo Bill.
The juxtaposition here is clear. The Inca, died off at the hands of the 100 Spanish men who came to the New World to seek glory and conversion, because of all the power given to them by European civilization. It is the tale of a how an entire society, complex and completely different from Spain's ideals, was toppled by the great forces of the world. This is the founding myth of America; this was the time when the powers of Europe began to seize the New World, and the symbolism was very clear. From that point on it was permitted to displace the natives, or force them to become Christian. They were different and therefore they were less than human; and that was how it was going to be. Well they might not have seen themselves as rebels, to the idea of America; a European Civilization in the New World, they were rebellious. And they were destroyed almost utterly; leaving only a pittance of their once-great population.
But, one does not have to look so far as Pizarro to see the destruction of the indigenous peoples of America. They can look no further than folk-hero Buffalo Bill.